For the past two years, the IDF has been building a sprawling new training facility on the ruins of Zaarour, an abandoned Syrian village in the northern Golan Heights where IDF battalions once drilled. Earlier this month, the complex—dubbed “Little Lebanon”—was inaugurated as the northern counterpart to “Little Gaza,” the long-standing mock Palestinian village at the Tze’elim base in the Negev.
The new site is designed to replicate a Shiite village in southern Lebanon, complete with multi-story apartment blocks, fortified bunkers, narrow alleys, rubble, and underground tunnels. Unlike Tze’elim, however, this facility allows live-fire training, enabling soldiers, tanks, and combat engineers to fire real ammunition and detonate explosives.
IDF forces operated in Lebanon last year
(Video: IDF)
“This is the closest thing we have to reality,” said Lt. Col. Zohar, head of training at the Ground Forces Command and the officer overseeing the project, in an interview with Yedioth Ahronoth and Ynet. “We learned from last year’s maneuver against Hezbollah—both our mistakes and our successes—and we built this site to reflect that. Even the small details, like shrubs, boulders, and elevated terrain, are taken from what soldiers actually encountered in the field.”
The first unit to train in “Little Lebanon” was the Commando Brigade’s school, which recently conducted two weeks of live exercises there. The facility is visible from the historic Beaufort Castle, only eight kilometers away, where Hezbollah bunkers and tunnels were bombed in recent days.
Unlike in past years, when senior officers who had fought in Lebanon were brought in to share their lessons, today most IDF commanders already have firsthand experience operating in enemy territory. “They arrive with confidence,” Zohar noted. “Here, we adapt their training to the northern arena.”
The site also integrates an advanced digital feedback system. Dozens of cameras and recording devices are installed in streets, alleys, and buildings, enabling commanders and soldiers to review their communications, maneuvers, and mistakes in detailed debriefs.
The project replaces an earlier plan known as “Snir,” which was shelved a decade ago after millions of shekels were wasted on initial planning. Budget priorities and neglect of the ground forces left the IDF without a live-fire urban training center for battalion-level exercises in a northern war scenario.
Now, infantry, armor, and engineering units can train together in a realistic environment. Bulldozers, tanks, mortars, and snipers all operate alongside infantry in combined-arms drills. “We’ll scatter rubble and create sniper targets, so every element of the combat team gets tested,” Zohar explained.
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The training complex in Tze’elim dubbed as "Little Gaza"
(Photo: Menahem Kahana/ AFP)
The complex already includes dozens of buildings—some low-rise homes with courtyards designed in Lebanese style, some three- and four-story blocks, and even high-rises meant to simulate towns deeper inside southern Lebanon. “This will help us prepare not just for small villages near the border, but for larger towns as well,” Zohar said.
The first battalion-level reserve exercise at the new site is scheduled for the coming month, part of preparing units for operational deployments along the Lebanese border.